How IU football is using NCAA's new clock rule change to Hoosiers' advantage
BLOOMINGTON — The pacing of college football games changed dramatically this offseason.
In April, the NCAA announced three major changes in how Division I and II games will be timed for the 2023 season. The most important new rule is the game clock will only stop on first downs in the final two minutes of each half.
In the past, the clock stopped for every first down until the ball was spotted and the sideline chains were set. The Football Rules Committee adjusted the rule in hopes of reducing the number of plays in games, thus limiting the risk of injury.
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After a full week of games, fans have mixed reviews of the new rules. Some believe letting the clock run gives games a more natural flow, while others think they’re being cheated out of precious plays within the game.
For Indiana football, fewer plays could equal more opportunities.
While the Hoosiers don’t know who their long-term quarterback will be, they clearly want a run-first attack. IU had 33 rushes against its 21 passes in its 23-3 loss against Ohio State in Week 1. Thirteen of those 21 pass attempts came in the fourth quarter when the Buckeyes had gone ahead by three scores.
Running the ball has been an emphasis for IU since it started Dexter Williams in the penultimate game of the 2022 season against Michigan State. The Hoosiers won that game 39-31 in overtime with Williams going 2-for-7 with 31 yards through the air.
From that moment, coach Tom Allen and offensive coordinator Walt Bell have made it clear they want a ground-and-pound system. Offensive line coach Bob Bostad emphasized the run game in his introductory news conference in December. Both of Indiana’s current quarterback options — Brendan Sorsby and Tayven Jackson — were given designed runs against Ohio State.
It seems like the Hoosiers have gone with this run-heavy approach in an attempt to shorten games. Fewer passes means fewer incompletions — which means fewer clock stoppages. Fewer clock stoppages means fewer plays and possessions — which means there’s a smaller margin of error for teams like Ohio State to separate from Indiana.
That surely looked like IU’s strategy against the Buckeyes on Saturday. Ohio State was far from covering the 29.5-point spread, thanks to the new rules and Indiana’s approach.
“Going into the game, the most important thing was we wanted to stay in the fight as long as possible,” Bell said Monday. “So it was long, it was slow, it was going to be a grind.”
The Hoosiers accomplished their goal of keeping the game fairly close, despite Bell admitting to being too conservative with “pitter-patter” playcalling.
When Indiana lost 56-14 to Ohio State in Columbus last November, the team had 15 full drives. On Saturday, Indiana had nine full drives. In the aforementioned upset over Michigan State last year, Indiana had 10 full drives in regulation.
So there’s been a major difference in the competitiveness of IU’s games when the team limits the number of plays and drives. The Hoosiers may just use the clock changes to their advantage going forward.
“I've heard all of the offensive coaches complain about it because they want more snaps,” Allen said last Thursday before facing Ohio State. “As a defensive coach, you're always trying to find ways to keep your defense off the field and shorten the games."
Through 93 FBS games this year, teams have run 65.7 plays per game, and games have lasted for 3 hours and 23.6 minutes. This is down from 2022 when there were 68.7 plays per game, and contests took 3 hours and 27 minutes.
“This new rule is, um, it’s crazy,” Chip Kelly said during his halftime interview of UCLA's 27-13 win over Coastal Carolina. “We had four drives in the first half. This game goes fast. Hope you guys are selling a lot of commercials!”
UCLA had just 10 drives on Saturday. There were 40 total points scored in a game that had a 66.5-point over/under betting total at kickoff. The Bruins fell well short of their 39.2 points per game average in 2022.
Kelly is known for his high-speed, electric offenses. With fewer possessions, there’s a lower chance of UCLA having monstrous offensive outbursts.
Allen indirectly responded to Kelly’s comments Monday, saying, “From a football perspective, I know I've seen some things and some coaches' comments about the commercial — I don't know about all that stuff — but I know when the clock's moving, after first downs, it's going to shorten (the game) a little bit.”
There’s a strong contrast between Kelly’s pessimistic view as an offensive coach and Allen’s defensive-minded strategy of shortening games to better compete against great teams.
Indiana probably won’t milk the clock too much against Indiana State on Friday, but expect to see the Hoosiers manipulating the new rule to their advantage against teams of similar or better skill this season.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: How Indiana football is using NCAA clock rule change to IU's advantage
